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Widely Loathed Ex-Nixon Guy Henry Kissinger Finally Died At 100 And People Have…Thoughts

Henry Kissinger
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Henry Kissinger spent a full century, plus a few months more for bad behavior, on this planet, but he left his mark. As Secretary of State under two Republican presidents, he helped topple Chile’s democratically elected president, Salvador Allende. He approved of the secret carpet bombing of Cambodia, killing at least 50,000 civilians. He and Richard Nixon aided Pakistan of massacring 300,000 in what is now Bangladesh. He and Gerald Ford secretly approved Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor, leading to more than 100,000 killed or starved to death. Millions of innocents are dead because of his actions.

He was, in the eyes of many, an unpunished war criminal. His reward was a long life and decades of fealty from the Republican Party. Into his 90s and beyond, even Donald Trump knew to kiss his ring, though Kissinger was left predictably unimpressed.

But now he’s dead.

His passing was unceremoniously announced by his consulting firm. They gave no cause of death.

Though the GOP ensured Kissinger lived a comfortable life of swanky speaking engagements, his name was verboten in other circles. Where most presidents would at least coddle him, including the current one, Barack Obama wasn’t a fan. As The New York Times notes:

Mr. Obama noted toward the end of his presidency that he had spent much of his tenure trying to repair the world that Mr. Kissinger left. He saw Mr. Kissinger’s failures as a cautionary tale.

“We dropped more ordnance on Cambodia and Laos than on Europe in World War II,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with The Atlantic in 2016, “and yet, ultimately, Nixon withdrew, Kissinger went to Paris, and all we left behind was chaos, slaughter and authoritarian governments that finally, over time, have emerged from that hell.”

Mr. Obama noted that while in office he was still trying to help countries “remove bombs that are still blowing off the legs of little kids.”

It’s not right to gloat about the passing of anyone. But Kissinger, many on Twitter were quick to note, is a rare exception.

People shared messages from his more prominent haters.

Including the late Anthony Bourdain.

There were jokes.

There were calls not to hold back out of respect for the dead.

Some shared unflattering moments.

Some, though, lamented that Kissinger never had to face the consequences of his actions.

Or maybe he secretly died horribly and embarrassingly.

(Via NYT)